Method established for detecting "Negative Hydrogen" H− ions in solids

Summary

Associate Professor Katsuro Hayashi, of the Materials and Structures Laboratory at the Tokyo Institute of Technology's Center for Secure Materials, and a research group including Professor Hideo Hosono, of the Tokyo Institute of Technology's Frontier Research Center, succeeded in establishing a method for the easy identification of "Hydrogen with a negative electric charge" (Hydride H⁻ ions) formed in solids using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) alone. It was realized from the discovery that NMR observation limits can be compensated for by creating a correspondence with the size of the space around hydrogen in substances. Using this they provided the world's first proof that H⁻ ions are formed in apatites, which are substances in the composition of teeth and bones.

The same group has been involved in research on H⁻ in solid materials in order to obtain improved transfer temperatures in iron superconductors and transparent conductive membranes on cement material matrices. However, in order to actually prove the existence of H⁻, experiments at large-scale research facilities and the accumulation of a large amount of indirect experimental evidence was required, which also necessitated a great deal of labor. With the current establishment of an effective method to clarify the unknown H⁻, the expectation is for the accelerated development of new functional materials including H⁻ ions.

The results of this research appeared in the English scientific journal "Nature Communications" published on March 24th.

This work was supported by MEXT Element Strategy Initiative to form a core research center in Japan.

Localized structure incorporating apatite ceramics and H⁻ ions.
Everything other than the red signal is caused by H+ (OH⁻) in a variety of states.

Reference

Authors:	Katruro Hayashi, Peter V. Sushko, Yasuhiro Hashimoto, Alexander L. Shluger, Hideo Hosono
Title of original paper:	Hydride ions in oxide hosts hidden by hydroxide ions
Journal:	Nature Communications, 3515 (2014).
DOI:	10.1038/ncomms4515

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